This blog has been set up to further the cause of compassion for Asylum Seekers.
We will post letters that have been sent to politicians, building up the pressure to provide compassionate support to all refugees in Australia and anywhere where people have been sent by the Australian Government.
Send your letter and any reply to our email address and we will post it on the site
Any other information of use will also be posted. For Facebook page click on "contact us" tab below.

Pages

Index

Click on subject of interest shown on the right under the heading "labels" to see all relevant posts

To look at letters (and some replies) sent to politicians and newspapers, scroll down the index on the right hand side and select the appropriate heading.

Note the blog allows multiple labelling and all letters to politicians are under "letters to pollies".

If you scroll down and cannot go further, look out for icon "Older Posts". Click on that to continue

5.12.17

Newsletter for 5 December 2017 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Market report

Supporters meeting
report

Next Roadside Demo -
Big Banana Coffs Thursday December 7th 2:30pm

Where does our money
go?

Manus Island update

NZ deal nearly gets
up in Parliament

Valla Beach market
report

Another good market
at Valla Beach on Saturday. We had a happy band of supporters
handing out leaflets and talking to market-goers, and collected a fair number
of signatures on our petition. This was our final market for 2017. A big thank
you to all the supporters who have helped out this year. A great team effort!
We’ll publish the details of our planned markets for 2018 early in the New
Year.

Meeting and lunch
for supporters report

Our meeting and lunch
for supporters on Sunday was a great success, with 28 people taking
part. We had lots of lively and constructive discussion about our
activities this year and plans for 2018. There was strong support for the key
elements of our current advocacy work, and a clear determination to keep up the
fight to bring about an end to the cruel policy of offshore detention – a
policy supported by the Liberals, the Nationals and Labor. We are completely
committed to continue with our campaigning , and we hope that, in 2018, more of
our supporters will participate in our many and varied activities.

Lunch on the deck, in
beautiful sunshine and with delicious food that people had brought along, was
enjoyed by all. And the raffle raised $140!

Roadside
demonstration: The Big Banana: Thursday 7th December

Our final roadside
demonstration for 2017 will take place this Thursday, 7th
December for 2.30 to 4.00 pm by the Big Banana in Coffs
Harbour. It would be great to end our demos on a high note with a big
turnout at this popular location. The government is now under significant
pressure in relation to the terrible situation on Manus island, so it is more
important than ever that we keep the issue in the public eye. Please consider
coming along to join us if you can. We have lots of banners and placards to
share.

Where does our
money go?

At our
meeting on Sunday we were presented with the details of our
income and expenditure for the past twelve months. Our income amounted to
$7,010 from market sales, donations and fundraising. We donated $2,150 to the
Asylum Seekers Centre and $2,537 to the Refugee Advice and Casework Services.
Both organisations rely very heavily on donations and volunteers to carry out
their vital work in assisting asylum seekers and refugees currently living in
Australia. They could not do their work without generous support from groups
like ours.

Manus Island
update

The cruelty on Manus
island goes on, whilst Minister Dutton ties himself in knots whilst attempting
to convince us that there is plenty of adequate accommodation on Manus
for the remaining detainees. Amidst denials that any detainees were mistreated
in their forcible transfer to the three locations around Lorengau, a group of
doctors from Medecins Sans Frontieres have been denied access to the centres.
They report that the medical and mental health needs of the detainees require
urgent intervention, that there are medical facilities in only one of the
three centres, and that, furthermore, these facilities are basic, and not
adequate to deal with the detainees’ complex and serious needs. To add to the
problems, it has been reported that key support staff in the new compounds have
been evacuated amid concerns for their safety, due to opposition to their
presence from locals.

Yesterday in
Parliament the Senate agreed a resolution to accept the New Zealand
government’s offer to take 150 refugees from Manus and Nauru. The issue then went
to the House of Representatives, where the Greens MP Adam Bandt tabled the
resolution, which was supported by Labor. The initial vote was 73 to 72
in favour, but later two Coalition absentees returned to the chamber and
the matter went to a second vote and was narrowly lost by 74 votes to 73.

It is beyond
disgraceful that our government refuses to accept this humanitarian gesture on
the part of the NZ government which would have alleviated the terrible
suffering for some of the refugees languishing in offshore detention.
However, we should be encouraged that the Labor opposition, for the first
time, has actually opposed the government’s cruel policy, given that, until
today, it has been totally complicit in inflicting terrible suffering on innocent
people.

Please telephone the
Prime Minister to condemn the government’s actions. Please also telephone
Luke Hartsuyker on 6652 6233 to express your dismay that he voted against the
resolution.